This invention pertains to the field of process flavorants and particularly pertains to process flavorants which impart cooked meat flavor to foodstuffs. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with the preparation of meat flavorants having increased characteristic meat flavor and aromatic intensity which more closely resemble the natural flavor and aroma of cooked meat.
The importance of the Maillard reaction in meat flavor has long been recognized. A large number of patents for "reaction product" meat-like flavorants has been claimed based on the Maillard reaction following the classic patent of Morton et. al. in 1960 (British Patent No. 836,694) which described the production of a meat-like flavor by heating a mixture of cysteine and ribose. The subsequent patents for meat-like flavorants involved sulfur, particularly sulfur-containing amino acids and thiamine. The major precursors of meat flavor for the Maillard reaction of amino compounds and reducing sugars are water-soluble components and the resulting heterocyclic compounds have been shown to be particularly important in meat-like flavors. However, these meat-like flavors still lack specific species characterizing meat aromas.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,017 describes the preparation of a meat-like flavorant by reacting thiamine with a sulfur-containing polypeptide or an amino acid and thereafter adding aldehydes and ketones to the products. The addition of aldehydes and/or ketones in an effort to enhance the organoleptic profile of the flavorant produced is generally uneconomical. The chemical-sense substances are also not preferred by consumers.
Lee, et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,290 enhanced the specific meat aromas of meat flavorants by heating and oxidizing a lipid material to form aldehydes and ketones. The thermal degradation and oxidation of lipids may contribute to desirable flavor.
The two main types of flavor generating reactions which occur thermally are the Maillard reaction of water-soluble amino compounds and reducing sugars, and the thermal degradation and oxidation of oil-soluble lipids. However, the water-soluble and oil-soluble precursors and/or intermediates can not react with each other due to their insolubility.
The role of phospholipids in the development of undesirable warmed-over flavor in reheated meat has been reported (Pearson et. al. Adv. Food Res. 23: 1, 1977), but their possible role in the development of desirable flavors has been largely unexplored. Sessa, D. J. reviewed the role of phospholipids in causing flavor problems (Szujah and List, lecithins, Chapter 15, p. 347, 1985 by American Oil Chemists' Society) and suggested (a) phospholipids containing the ester-bound, oxidatively deteriorated fatty acids can possess off-flavors themselves; (b) phospholipids provide a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids for subsequent oxidative deterioration to produce off-flavor; and (c) the amine base portion of the phospholipid can interact with the reactive carbonyl compounds resulting from polyunsaturated fatty acids to yield carbonyl-amine compounds with off-flavor.